Air-conditioned protective garment and air-supply-and-conditioning apparatus for the same



AIR-SUPPLY'AND-CONDITIONING APPARATUS FOR THE SAME Filed Dec 6. 1960 M.E. MCCORMACK AIR-CONDITIONED PROTECTIVE GARMENT AND Dec. 15, 1964INVENTOR M -XE Mc'COrmauclf ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofilice3,161,192 [km-CONDITIONED PROTECTIVE GARMENT ANDAIR-SUPPLY-AND-CONDITIONING APPARATUS FOR TIE SAME Mark E. McCormack,Southboro, Mass, assignor to the United States of America as representedby the Secre tary of the Army Filed Dec. 6, 1960, Ser. No. 74,207

8 Claims. (61. 126-494) (Granted under Title 35, U5. Code (1952), sec.266) improved apparatus to supply conditioned air to the interior of thegarment for breathingby the wearer of the garment and for warming thebody of the wearer. v

A further object of the invention resides in associating with anair-impervious garment a tank of liquid air or oxygen, and combiningtherewith a heat exchanger p- 1 erated by pyrophoric material tocondition the liquid air or oxygen for breathing and body warmingpurposes after the temperature of the air has been raised sufiicientlyby passage through an ambient air-heated evaporator to vaporize thesame, but not sufficiently for ultimate use. 1 v

A still further object of the invention resides in providing a garmentas defined in the foregoing object, including distribution ducts forsuitably directing the conditioned air to various parts of the wearersbody for warming the same and forsupplying breathing air and a venturitube whereby the confined air is continuously circulated andrecirculated through the garment'and duct system. Another object of theinventionis to provide a new and improved self-contained air-supply andair-conditioning apparatus for supplyingjconditioned air to the.

interior of a closed space.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be apparent fromthefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingwhich is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the improved garmentand.air-supply-and-conditioning apparatus of the present invention. a 3p Referring to-the drawing in greater detail and by reference' numeral,the present invention comprises a garment indicated generally by thenumeral 1 which is designedto envelop entirely a wearer and which isformed of air-impervious material. Associated with this garment is anair-supply-andfconditioning unit which is indicated generally by thenumeral 2. The interior of the garment 1 is connected with the air-supply-and-conditioning unit 2 means of a pipe 3. A venturi tube 4discharging into the tube'3 creates a circulation of air within thegarment, and the garment is provided with a ,check or dump valveS'through which air may be permitted to escape from time to 'timewhen'the pressure withinthe garment increases, above a predeterminedamount. f I

a The air-supply-and-conditioning unit 2 includes a tank 6 forcontaining a supply 'oflliquid air or oxygen and a heat exchangerindicated generally bythe numeral 7 connected to the lower end of thetank 6 by a pipe 8 pro- Patented Dec. 15., 1964 vided with an evaporatorcoil 9 and terminating in a pair of branches 1t) and 11. The heatexchanger 7 includes a casing or container 12. Branch 10 of pipe 8 opensinto'the container 12 of the heat exchanger, and the other branch 11communicates with the lower end of a heat exchanger comprising a pipecoil 13- positioned within the container 12, so as to be surrounded byand in close contact with a supply of pyrophoric material. 13' fillingthe container. The evaporator coil 9 is exposed to the ambient air andprovides for the initial vaporization of the liquid air leaving the tank6. A pair of valves 14 and 15 serve to proportion the amounts of airentering the container 12 and the heat exchanger coil 13. The valve 14is to be adjusted, of course, to admit only that amount of fluidnecessary to oxidize the pyrophoric material 13', and hence raise thetemperature of the same sufficiently to complete the vaporization of theair or oxygen from tank 6, and to heat it to the desired degree as itpasses through the heat exchanger coil 13.

The upper end of the container 12 is provided with an exhaust pipe orvent 16 controlled by a valve 17, and the upper end of coil 13communicates with the inlet to the venturi 4 and thence through the pipeconnection 3 with the interiorof the garment 1. The outlet end of thepipe connection 3 is connected with a plurality of ducts 20' fordistributing conditioned air to various parts of the garment, so as toWarm different parts of the wearers body. If desired, a by-pass line 18controlled by a valve 19 may be employed for tempering the treated airpassing through the pipe connection 3. In other words, if conditions aresuch that air would be heated to a temperature too high for comfort inpassing through the heating coil 13, a portion of the unheated airleaving evaporator coil 9 may be by-passed around the heating coil 13directly to the inlet pipe 3 for the garment 1 by adjusting the by-passvalve 19. V

In order to provide for a suitable circulation of the air Within theencapsulating garment 1, a return air duct 21 communicates with theupper end of the garment and with the suction inlet of the venturi tube4.

Although the operation of the invention has been described in part inconnection with the description of the various structural details, it isdeemed desirable to more fully describe the operation of the variousparts in sequence. The tank 6 is 'first charged with liquid at or oxygenand the container 12 of the heat exchanger is charged with any preferredpyrophoric material 13', such as pyrophoric iron or iron sulphide, forexample. The garment 1 being donne'dby the wearer, the various valves14, 15, 17 and 19, if need be, are adjusted to provide air at thedesired temperature. This is brought about by the fact that liquid airfrom the tank 6 is partly or completely vaporized in the evaporator coil9 which, as indicated in the drawing, is exposed to the temperature ofthe ambient air. By virtue of this fact, the temperature of the airleaving the evaporator 9 is still below that desired, and the purpose ofthe heat exchanger 7 is to raise it to the desired temperature. The airleaving I the evaporator coil 9 is divided into two fractions by theproportioning valves 14 and 15 in the branches 10jand 11 connected'tothe interior of the container 12 and to the pipe coil 13, respectively..The air passing over and through the bed of pyrophoric material causesthe latter to oxidize thereby-producing heat to heat the Walls of thepipe coil 13 and the air passing therethrough. The air.

then passes through the venturi 4, pipe connection 3, and ducts 21 intothe space enclosed by the garment 1. Passage of air through the venturitube 4 generates suction in the well-known manner, thereby drawing airfrom garment 1 through the return pipe 21, and thus inducing acirculation and recirculation of air in the garment. Excess pressure inthe garment is discharged through the pressure relief or dump valve 5,and exhaust gases in container 12 are discharged to the atmospherethrough valve 17 and exhaust vent 16.

Any suitable harness or suspending means may be used to secure thegarment 1 on a wearer. The airsupply-and-conditioning apparatus 2 isintended to be carried on the back of a wearer by any suitable harnessor suspending means, and when one unit becomes exhausted by reason ofthe consumption of the liquidair or oxygen, the entire unit may beexchanged for a fully charged unit. In some cases, it even may bedesirable to exchange both the garment 11 and theair-supply-andconditioning apparatus 2 when the oxygen supply of thelatter apparatus becomes exhausted.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it will be seen that I have devised a rather simple andinexpensive air-conditioned protective garment which is relatively lightin weight, has no moving parts other than the manually-operated valves,incorporates therein a novel type of air-supply-and-conditioningapparatus, and provides for automatic and continuous recirculation ofproperly warmed air in the space enclosed by the garment.

,In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described what I nowconsider to be the preferred form of the invention, but inasmuch asvarious minor changes may be made in structural details withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that all suchchanges be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, an air-irnpervious garment, and an air-supplyand-conditioning unit associated therewith, said unit comprising acontainer, pyrophoric material in the container, a pipe coil inthecontainer in contact with the pyrophoric material, a liquid air-supplytank, a pipe leading from the tank and provided with two branches, oneleading to the lowerend of the pipe coil and the other emptying into thebottom of the container of pyrophoric material, and a pipe connectionbetween the opposite end of the coiland the interior of said garment.

2. In combination, an air-impervious garment, and anair-supply-and-conditioning unit associated therewith, said unitcomprising a container, pyrophoric material in the container, a pipecoilin the container in contact with the pyrophoricmaterial, a liquidair-supply tank, a pipe leading from the tank and provided with twobranches,.one leading to the lower end of the pipe coil and the otheremptying into the bottom of the container of pyrophoric material, a pipeconnection between the opposite end of thetcoil and, the interiorot saidgarment, and an exhaust vent in the upper end of the container.

3. In combination, an air-impervious garment, and an air-supply-andconditioning unit associated therewith, said unit comprising acontainer, pyrophoric material in the container, ,a pipe coil in thecontainer in contact with the pyrophoric material, a liquid air-supplytank, a pipe leading from the tank andprovided with two branches, oneleading to the lower end of the pipe coil and the other emptying intothe bottom of the container of pyrophoric material, a, pipeconnectionbetween the opposite end of the coiland the interior of said garment, anexhaust vent in the upper end of the container, and a dump valve in.

the upper portionof said garment.

4. In combination, an air-impervious garment, and anair-supply-arid-conditioning unit associated therewith, said .unitcomprising a container, pyrophoric material ,in the container, a pipecoil in the container, in contact with the .pyrophoric material, aliquid air-supply tank, a pipe leading from the tank and provided withtwo branches, one leading to the lower end of the pipe coil and theotheremptying into the bottom of the container of pyrophoric material, a pipeconnection between the opposite end of the coil and the interior of saidgarment, and distribution ducts leading from said connection forcarrying the conditioned air to various parts of the space within saidgarment.

5. In combination, an air-impervious garment, and anair-supply-and-conditioning unit associated therewith, said unitcomprising a tank of liquid air, a heat exchanger comprising acontainer, pyrophoric material in the container, a pipe coil in thecontainer in contact with the pyrophoric material, a pipe leading fromthe bottom of the tank and provided with two branches one leading to thelower end of the pipe coil and the other emptying into the bottom of thecontainer, a pipe connection between the opposite end of thecoil and theinterior of said garment, a venturi tube in said pipe connection, and asecond pipe leading from the interior of said garment to the venturitube.

6. In combination, an air-impervious garment, and an air-supply-andconditioning unit associated therewith, said unit comprising a tank ofliquid air, a heat exchanger comprising acontainer, pyrophoric materialin the container, a pipe coil in the container in contact with thepyrophoric material, a pipe leading from the bottom of the tank andprovided with two branches one leading to the lower end of the pipe coiland the other emptying into the bottom of the container, a pipeconnection between the opposite end of the coil and the interior of saidgarment, a venturi tube'in said pipe connection, a second pipe leadingfrom the interior of said garment to the venturi tube, and a dump valvein said garment.

7. An airsupply-and-conditioning apparatus comprising a tank of liquidair, a heat exchanger including a container for pyrophoric material, apipe coil in the container in heat exchange relation withsaid pyrophoricmaterial, and a pipe means carrying a portion of the liquid air to thelpipe coil and another portion to the pyrophoric materia 8. Anair-supp1yand-conditioning apparatus comprising a tank of liquid air, aheat exchanger including a container for pyrophoric material and a pipecoil in said container in heat exchange relation with said pyrophoricmaterial, valve controlled piping means carrying liquid or partiallyvaporized air from said tank to said heat exchangerand apportioning theflow thereof to said pipe coil and the pyrophoricmaterial in saidcontainer, and a valve controlled by-pass means between the inlet andoutlet ends of said pipe coil.

References Citedhy the Examiner UNITED .STATES PATENTS 311,984 2/Heinzerling 44-3 2,670,728 3/54 Smith 126-208 2,943,459 7/60 Rind 62-514X 2,980,103 4/61 Scribner et al 126-263 2,983,116 5/61 Makowskiet al62-514'X 2,984,994 5/61 Hankins 62259 X 2,989,049 6/61 Crouzet 126-2082,990,695 7/61 Lefiingwell 128-144 3,064,448 11/62 Whittington 128-155 X3,117,426 1/64 Fischer et al. 62-514 FOREIGN PATENTS 498,552 10/ 19France.

JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT E. .MORGAN, PERCY L, PATRICK,

Examiners.

1. IN COMBINATION, AN AIR-IMPERVIOUS GARMENT, AND ANAIR-SUPPLY-AND-CONDITIONING UNIT ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, SAID UNITCOMPRISING A CONTAINER, PYROPHORIC MATERIAL IN THE CONTAINER, A PIPECOIL IN THE CONTAINER IN CONTACT WITH THE PYROPHORIC MATERIAL, A LIQUIDAIR-SUPPLY TANK, A PIPE LEADING FROM THE TANK AND PROVIDED WITH TWOBRANCHES, ONE LEADING TO THE LOWER END OF THE PIPE COIL AND THE OTHEREMPTYING INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE CONTAINER OF PYROPHORIC MATERIAL, AND APIPE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE OPPOSITE END OF THE COIL AND THE INTERIOR OFSAID GARMENT.